The Eighth Tribe, 1980 (7. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1980-10-01 / 10. szám
No improvements can be found in the higher levels of education either, where the situation is also continuously deteriorating. Nothing has changed for the better in the use of the mother tongues of the national minorities. In the administration of justice, the state organs, ec., the only language permitted is* Rumanian. In meetings of the Party, the trade unions, the Communist Youth League, as well as in meetings of industrial or agricultural workers, all presentations are made in the Rumanian language, even where the overwhelming majority of the audience is not Rumanian. The Rumanian language remains in use even at meetings of the Nationality Workers’ Councils. It appears that religious service is the only occasion when the mother tongue may be used without restriction. However, the Moldavian Csángó villages are an exception even to this. In spite of the fact that the inhabitants are all Hungarians and Roman Catholics, they have Rumanian priests, and as a consequence, their services are conducted not in their Hungarian mother tongue, but in the Rumanian language. Not to mention the fact that in the Moldavian villages inhabited by Csángó Hungarians all forms of schooling and instruction in the mother tongue have been eliminated for two decades. In the last census they were denied even the possibility of declaring themselves Hungarian, and were officially declared Rumanian. Such actions would not have happened in the past, even under the most reactionary regimes. As regards the Nationality Councils, their activities are determined exclusively by orders from above. These Councils do not represent the interests of the nationalities. The people belonging to these nationalities cannot participate in the activities of the Councils, and do not elect Council members. The local authorities and the Party Central Committee appoint them. The Party uses these Councils to enforce its own discriminatory nationality policies. To get to the head of these Committees, one must have the following qualifications: He should be a man without character. He should be able to clap vigorously. He should speak only when the Party asks him to, and he should say what the Party wants him to say (naturally one must submit one’s speeches in writing beforehand). An extremely burning issue is the total lack of protection of the collective rights of Rumania’s national minorities, whether the nationality group is large, as in the case of the Hungarians and Germans, or small as in the case of the Serbs, Russians, Turks, Bulgarians, etc. None of them enjoys collective rights. This lack precipitates the dissolution of ethnic communities and renders their members increasingly defenseless against the policies of forced assimilation. After getting rid of the Jews, we are going in the most direct way toward getting rid of the Saxons and Swabians, and finishing the denationalization of such small ethnic communities as the Armenians, Tartars, Turks, etc. All that remains is the problem of the Hungarians, which is more intricate and more difficult to solve. Thus, the concept of the political nation was borrowed from the arsenal of 19th Century nationalism, and as a consequence, steps were taken to intensify the forced assimilation of the national minorities: All community organizations with nationality characteristics were abolished. The Ministry whose task it was to oversee and protect the nationalities was abolished. The Hungarian Autonomous Region was abolished. Since 1955, education in the mother tongue has been curtailed, in the beginning through merger, then through elimination. In the interest of correcting the errors and abuses committed against the nationalities, I consider it necessary that the following measures be instituted: 1. Life within and without the Party must be democratized. The machinations of the totally discredited personality cult must be renounced if the nationally question is to be assured an honorable solution. 2. With regard to the nationality question: (a) Three official languages should be equally recognized in the Socialist Republic of Rumania: Rumanian, Hungarian and German. (b) A suitable Nationality Statute should be enacted. (c) Organizations with elected leadership should be established for the nationalities to practice and protect their rights, as well as to serve the friendship and fraternal cooperation between the majority and the minority nationalities. (d) In those areas where ethnic communities, be they Hungarian, German, Serb, etc. are in the majority, autonomous local administration should be established on the county or province level. Even if the Rumanian inhabitants are in a majority in the country as a whole, there are places, communities, cities, indeed entire provinces in Transylvania and the Bánát, where people belonging to the various nationalities live, and where they represent the majority. (e) Radio and television programing, and the press should be provided in three languages: Rumanian, Hungarian, and German. (f) In Transylvania the three languages should be taught in a parallel manner in the schools, and either none of them or all three of them should be mandatory. All this I propose and insist upon, since equality cannot exist in a subordinate way. Whatever is subordinate cannot be equal, especially in the problematic area of nation and nationality. A subordinate man cannot be equal as a citizen, he cannot be free of material, moral, and intellectual oppression, he cannot be equal to his fellow man, before the Creator and the law. A just society can only exist in a country with a social system which realizes social and political equality not in words but in practice. Febr. 10, 1980 Károly Király (Editor’s note: due to lack of space Mr. Király’s letter had to be condensed. The original letter in its entirety can be found in the Congressional Records, June 5, 1980 Pages E 2765-66-67.) Mr. Kiralv’s letter and Mr. Ferenc Kunszabo’s article can be found in the book “Transylvania and the Hungarian-Rumanian Problem” published by the Danubian Press, Rt. 1, Box 59, Astor, Florida 32002 — $18.00. THE TRANSYLVANIAN QUARTERLY m
